Receiving the 'stick' carries weight in Clinton

The wee folk were back in town last week – again raising mischief even as the March 16 parade leading to the annual Leprechaun Convention and Shillelagh Awards stepped off.

It seems there was a communication problem with the local lawmen, and the usual police escort did not show up at noon in the Elks parking lot on School Street, as leprechauns and honorees waited.

A couple of cell phone calls made to the police station by “Himself,” AKA Edward Sheridan, chief leprechaun, rectified the situation, although the dispatcher – perhaps new to the job – tried to explain the event required a paid police detail.

“The chief is getting a stick!” Himself barked into the phone, referring to the impending awarding of a shillelagh to Chief Mark Laverdure.

It took about 10 minutes or so for two cruisers to arrive and block traffic for the parade to proceed through downtown to Town Hall. It was led by a bagpiper, followed by Himself and his grandson, Brendan Silvio, in a stroller, and Assistant Grand Marshall Evan Rollo of Shrewsbury, an honoree.

Also marching was fellow honoree John Mollica, of Princeton, and his Irish terrier, Nibben, named after the late Town Hall custodian and youth sports coach. The pooch stayed warm in a doggie coat with “Nibben” embroidered across the back.

The only thing missing was green smoke billowing from the Town Hall chimney, according to Sheridan – who hinted that, like the Vatican, it may soon be time to announce a new “Himself.”

A total of 17 black shillelaghs were awarded at the 37th convention, including one to the Rev. Hugo Cano of St. John's Church, who Sheridan said has endeared himself to the community.

However, since Cano is not Irish and cannot be a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a sponsor of the event, Sheridan said the leprechauns have allowed him to be inducted into the “Ancient Order of Hispanics.”

Besides the shillelagh, he presented the reverend with an “AOH” emblazoned baseball cap.

“When people ask me where I'm from, I always say 'Ireland' and they always look at me the same way you are looking at me now,” Cano told the applauding, packed crowd. “I want to thank the people of Clinton – they really make me feel at home.”

Leprechaun Society honorees are chosen each year, supposedly at a raucous gathering of 346,223 leprechauns under a “wishing tree” on Emmer O'Malley's front lawn.

The tongue-in-cheek society was founded in 1976 by the late Dick O'Toole, who passed the stick to Sheridan in the 1990s after reaching the chief leprechaun mandatory retirement age of 75. The society is supported solely by donations.

Nominations are submitted by the public each year. Sheridan said 91 were received this year, and the wee folk, “after four full hours of nomination, oration, frustration and a bit of libation,” pared the list to 17.

One honoree was Geri Sargent, longtime principal of Clinton Elementary School, who announced she will retire this summer, after 39 years as a teacher and administrator in Clinton public schools.

“I feel blessed to have worked my entire life in Clinton, where I was born and raised,” she said.

Laverdure received the public safety award, in memory of fallen Lancaster firefighter Martin H. McNamara V.

“He's always there when you need him,” Sheridan said of the chief.

At Town Hall, entertainment was provided by the Irish band Mulligan Stew, and the Claddagh Kids Irish step dancers, who dedicated this year's performance to Mackenzie Ann Hohl, a 15-year-old Clinton teen who was found dead in a brook last June, apparently after falling in while walking to her grandmother's house.

Besides the Crystal Club Charity and the AOH, sponsors of the event, there was a bake sale to raise money to send Clinton High School students to Ireland to visit Louisburgh, Co. Mayo, Ireland, where many in town have roots; and a collection for the “Wee People Fund,” which raises money for victims of domestic violence.

Earlier in the day, there was an Irish soda bread contest won by Joyce Corbosiero of Lancaster.

The Michael “Slip” Tierney, Award, from the Crystal Club Charity, was given to John “Spooksie” O'Toole for his fundraising for the charity, which gives to those in need.

Two Tommy Grealis Awards, scholarships, for high school students who best exemplify the humor, kindness to others, and good nature of the late Mr. Grealis, went to Emily Haley and Matthew Notaro.

Other honorees given shillelaghs were:

Moran Dziczek, a grocery clerk at Hannaford's in Clinton; high school coach, Bernie Gaughan; counselor and volunteer Paul Lowe; Philip B. O'Toole, clerk magistrate of Leominster District Court; Karen Moore, AOH financial secretary; Anthony Morabito, a Clinton barber for 50 years; Christine “Honey” O'Malley, a beloved Irish mother; Mary Foley Heighton, a Clinton school lunch lady; Bill Hutcheon, a Vietnam War Air Force veteran active with the American Legion and Knights of Columbus; Francis “Bumpy” McGonagle, of Burlington – a regular at the Old Timer Restaurant in Clinton; Thomas F. McNamara Sr., a Korean War Army veteran who volunteers for charity golf tournaments; John O'Toole and John Mollica, nominated as a duo for compiling a World War II tribute book of Clinton; Mary O'Toole Eley, who runs the CARE pantry in Clinton; and Selectman David J. Sargent, who Sheridan said speaks out for senior citizens and other taxpayers.

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